All's well at icy Oakwell

Of all the places to have to go when the weather has turned icy and snowy with the threat of more, Barnsley would not be anywhere near the top of my list!

There are a number of reasons for this and you will have heard my former co-commentator, Neil Price, speak of his affection for Oakwell on many an occasion too! It's nothing to do with Barnsley as a club, or the people there who are always very friendly - the lack of facilities are my main reason.

Saturday morning arrived and my phone went twice before I was due to leave and each time I thought I was going to be told the game was off, but to no avail! In fact, through Twitter I heard from someone who was close to Oakwell that conditions were expected to be fine unless there was any fresh snowfall during the morning, which wasn't forecast.

So northwards we headed and for once this season, we encountered no hold-ups (or break-downs!) and arrived in Barnsley at 12.30. Plenty of time in hand to find some fish & chips to give us some warmth before heading outside into the cold air we thought. I haven't found anywhere near the ground as yet on all my previous trips and news came from the other car of travelling press that they were heading into the town centre in search of lunch.

We came across Morrisons and saw that it had a cafe so I decided to give that a go. The busy car park should have been a warning of what was to follow but I carried on regardless in my pursuit of my fish and chips! The queue in the cafe was an even bigger clue but my order was placed and the wait began.

I had wanted to be in the ground and set up for around 1.15 as I had a couple of pieces to pre-record before our programme went on air. However, whilst stood in the queue to pay whilst we waited for our food I soon realised I had made a big mistake! 1.15 was looking more and more likely as the time we might actually get our food at our table given how many other people were waiting - the cafe (& the store) was packed! Somewhat embarrassingly Allan Smart, my co-commentator for the day called to confirm he was at the ground whilst my fish and chips was still being prepared. Once our food arrived (& it was only really a 5/10 rating I'm afraid) it had to be quickly devoured before making the dash back to the car and the now slow traffic in and around the ground. Saturday's commentary was therefore conducted with severe indigestion!

By the time I got my press pass and ran to find my seat I was getting some frantic phone calls from the studio to find out where I was so it was a huge relief to finally get everything set up and my pre-match piece recorded with just about 10 minutes to spare.

It was icy around the ground and there was a bit of snow on the perimeter but the pitch looked OK, apart from one or two icy looking patches at each end. However, the players later said that if anything the pitch was soft due to the under soil heating.


Snow on the dugouts at Oakwell as Watford's players warm up pre-match.

 It was bitterly cold and it was no surprise that a number of players chose to wear gloves. However, when you are taking notes it's not so easy to write with gloves on so my hands just had to freeze! There is not a lot of room to operate in the press box at Oakwell so it's a balancing act as to where you place all your equipment. I probably positioned our effects microphone (the one that picks the general crowd noise) in the wrong place as the lead trailed across my notes and made a crackling sound every time I wrote something.

At half-time every member of the press made a bee-line for the press room (a portacabin away out towards the car park), so much so that I couldn't even get in! A quick visit to the outside loo was my half-time entertainment before heading back to my seat for second-half duty. Kick-off almost caught a few out as the queue for the teas had been so long that there were a few late arrivals in the press box for the second-half.

It wasn't a great game although we did have some goalmouth action in the second-half but not really enough to take our minds off the cold. The aim post-match was to get interviews and reports done as quickly as possible in order to get back into the warm!

I huddled together with a number of other freezing reporters pitchside at the end of the players tunnel waiting for the managers and nominated players to emerge. To be fair, it wasn't a long wait before Scott Loach appeared and fresh from a clean sheet he was happy to give us an interview. I was able to get my questions in first for our radio interview and Scott told us how pleased he was with the clean sheet and how that he would be buzzing all week. He was also looking forward to seeing his save on the highlights on Saturday night and even had a word of sympathy for us stood out in the cold as he said he hadn't felt too cold whilst playing! He actually felt it was warmer that Peterborough away last December!

I then followed Barnsley boss Mark Robins into the press room to hear what he had to say whilst waiting for Malky Mackay. I then noticed the plaque on the door!

The plaque on the door of the press room at Oakwell

However, this Benny Hill was a former journalist who passed away earlier this year who used to edit a column in the Barnsley match day programme although some who knew him closely described as funnier than the actual comedian who went by the same name.

My interview with Malky Mackay was conducted in a small room underneath the old main stand before he reached the press room, which looked like it could have once been used as a kitchen. The Watford boss dismissed the freezing conditions as a nice warm day in his native Glasgow!

It was a dash back up to the press box to send the interviews back to the studio and both went on air before 6pm. There was also time to answer a couple of e-mails and texts that had come in that we hadn't had chance to see during the game.

A prompt 6pm finish was achieved so I began to thaw out on the journey home, which again was a decent one.

For our next trip to Barnsley, I won't be heading to Morrisons so if anyone has any tips for good pre-match grub do let me know! I'd also be interested to know your best fish & chip experiences on the road and maybe we can share and create a league table of the best and worst in the season!